EU lawmakers are moving toward suspending or blocking ratification of the EU-US trade deal following fresh tariff threats by US President Donald Trump, according to media reports.
As SteelOrbis reported previously, Trump has announced via social media that the US would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on all goods exported from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland starting February 1, 2026, with the rate rising to 25 percent from June 1, 2026. The measures would remain in place until an agreement is reached on the complete purchase of Greenland by the US.
Approval of trade deal increasingly in doubt
Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament, said that approval of the EU-US trade agreement is no longer possible under the current circumstances. He called for the EU’s planned tariff concessions on US products to be put on hold in response to Washington’s actions.
The trade agreement, negotiated in August 2025 by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, set a 15 percent US tariff on most EU goods in exchange for the EU removing duties on US industrial goods and selected agricultural products. While parts of the agreement are already provisionally applied, full implementation still requires the consent of the European Parliament.
Opposition within the Parliament intensified after the US expanded its existing 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum to cover additional EU products.
Calls to suspend implementation and consider retaliation
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, stated that work on implementing the agreement should be suspended until US tariff threats are withdrawn. He also urged lawmakers to consider deploying the EU’s anti-coercion instrument, which allows countermeasures such as retaliatory tariffs, restrictions on investment, or limits on access to EU public procurement markets.
Several members of the European Parliament, including Danish lawmaker Per Clausen, have formally called for freezing the deal for as long as US claims and pressure related to Greenland continue. As a result, ratification of the EU-US trade agreement has become increasingly uncertain, with lawmakers signaling a firmer stance to defend EU sovereignty and deter economic coercion.
EU leaders prepare coordinated response
Meanwhile, António Costa, president of the European Council, announced that EU leaders will convene on January 22 to discuss a coordinated response to Trump’s statements regarding Greenland and the proposed additional tariffs on European goods.